The Meta Platforms shock weighs down the Nasdaq futures, which point downwards, discounting the collapse of the former Facebook stock. The prices suffer a drop of almost -21% in the premarket.
Nasdaq futures are down about 0.60%, S&P 500 futures flat, while Dow Jones futures are up about 0.50%.
The publication of the Meta Platforms quarterly has fueled among investors new doubts about the strategy of CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has launched a real bet on the metaverse.
Meta Platforms-ex Facebook’s earnings per share (EPS) for the third quarter of the year came in at $ 1.64, up from $ 1.89 expected, according to analysts interviewed by Refinitiv.
Revenue was $ 27.71 billion, slightly better than the consensus expected $ 27.38 billion, down 4%.
Costs of the former Facebook rose 19% yoy to $ 22.1 billion, while operating profit sank 46% yoy to $ 5.66 billion.
Meta’s operating margin slipped to 20% from 36% in the same period last year. In total, net profit plunged 52% to $ 4.4 billion.
Meta announced disappointing guidance, saying it expects revenue between $ 30 and $ 32.5 billion, less than the $ 32.2 billion expected by the consensus.
Today is also ECB-Day, the day on which the ECB led by Christine Lagarde, according to the consensus, will proceed with a new rate hike in the euro area by 75 basis points, in its fight against bloc inflation.
On Wall Street yesterday, the Nasdaq fell 2.04% to 10,970.99 points, the S&P 500 fell 0.74% to 3,830.60, the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained flat, with a variation of just +2.37 points, at 31,839.11.
On a weekly basis, all three indices remain in positive territory, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 up more than 2% and the Nasdaq taking a roughly 1% gain.
The Dow Jones is preparing to conclude its fourth consecutive week of gains. Expectations are growing for the meeting of the FOMC, the monetary policy arm of the Fed, scheduled for the next 1-2 November.
Jerome Powell’s Fed has already raised fed funds rates above the 3% threshold on 21 September, raising them for the last time in the range between 3% and 3.25%, a record since 2008, proceeding to the third consecutive squeeze of 75 basis points.
From the minutes relating to that meeting, all the intention of the American central bank to continue along the path of rate hikes emerged. The market is thus betting on a new squeeze of 75 basis points.
The US quarterly season continues: today, after the end of the trading day on Wall Street, Amazon and Apple will release the third quarter accounts.